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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854562">The Inbetween</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoopsTheBirdbrain/pseuds/LoopsTheBirdbrain'>LoopsTheBirdbrain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Work In Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:21:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoopsTheBirdbrain/pseuds/LoopsTheBirdbrain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary pending. A different kind of superhero story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Inbetween</h2></a>
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    <p>Ah the times before all of this. The normal days of waking up and knowing what lay before themselves on that day. The world was their oyster and they were just another person getting to make their way in the world, totally in control, but those days seemed like a lifetime ago now. The days dragging on hour by hour, never knowing when it would strike, that familiar sensation of tingling on their skin, the ever so subtle heat as they felt their heart rate slow to a near crawl inside their chest. It was the loss of control that bothered them the most, they thought to themselves. While terrifying, it was the lack of knowledge as to when it would strike that left them feeling on edge at all hours of the day. The ever so slightly unsettling sensations before they watched their body vanish before their very eyes, their clothes disappearing along with them. </p><p>Simple invisibility would’ve been too kind a gift to bestow upon them they thought, that would at least be useful, but no. This. This was no ordinary ability. The moments they felt the heat on their skin and the stirring within their chest, that’s when things would change. Shift and distort before them, the familiar sights of this realm melting like wax from the corners of their vision as the fabric of their reality began to unravel like a weakly woven woolen blanket. This place was no home, nothing like the place they remembered leaving only moments before as they felt their body’s weightless form glide effortlessly through the ether of this new reality, stuck somewhere between… adrift in their own personal world. </p><p>Just as soon as it would arrive it would vanish, the rush of adrenaline flowing back through their veins as the world pulled itself back into their eyes, a supernova of color shift in an instant. How long had passed, no one could say, but they knew one thing for certain, where they began in this world they never ended. Sometimes great distances were traversed, what felt like single steps in this in-between lay out in miles back there. Effortless, and now finally getting under their control as they pulled their weary body from the dirt of the field, pupils desperately struggling to focus through bloodshot eyes and pounding pulse. They weren’t sure how much longer this could go on like this, the tax it drew from the bank of their body, grew. Compounding with each installment they collected, seeing just how far they could go, how long they could keep moving in-between. Ragged breaths and racing mind battered their body as they collected their thoughts, hands clasping tightly at their temples, a sort of irrational fear that their mind sought to leave their body if not held in place. </p><p>Head spinning and heart pounding left his knees buckling, barely able to keep his entire body upright as he struggled to catch the breath caught in his chest. Another day, another new place to wake up with nearly no memory once again. This was getting to be a problem faster than they could ever have envisioned. Was this how things finally tumbled over that last valley into madness. Dusting off the final bits of dust he finally took the time to take in the sights of what lay around him. Gone were the glimmers of the city lights and the deafening honks and sounds of the urban jungle, this place was different. Unsure if they still had feet touching the ground in this world, they reached down to the dusty road they once lay in, feeling the grit of the soil slipping through his fingers with a familiar coarseness. With this moment he finally felt his heart rate stabilize, at least somewhat confident in his tethering to this reality. He really was here, at least for now, feeling those worries creeping in the recesses of his mind as he turned to look once more. </p><p>This world seemed so barren by comparison like he wasn’t even on the same planet anymore with the deafening silence. The single lonely road seemed to stretch on for miles ahead of them, the single power line that paralleled the dusty asphalt the only indication of human presence in their vision as their eyes finally returned to normal with a frantic shake of his head. There was nowhere to go but the eternal road that seemed to lay on infinitely in front of them as they began to walk, weary muscles protesting every step. Before long he felt the ever so comforting buzz in his front pocket as he walked, his heart nearly leaping for joy in his chest as he realized what lay in his pocket still. With a desperate grab, his hand plunged into his pocket and clutched the metal and glass rectangle tightly in his palm as he begged whatever was out there watching over to let the battery still have some semblance of charge remaining. Very much to his surprise, and more so to his delight, the battery had held its ground, about 20% still remaining on the device as he opened it with a satisfying click before being catapulted back to the unfair reality. “No Service”. He spoke to himself if only to ensure that he could still announce his presence as he felt his grip tighten, a grimace contorting his face as tears began to stream down his face. Why even bother getting his hopes up like that when? He thought, continuing his pilgrimage as he kept his face glued to the blinding screen with whatever hope he had left before he felt the hairs on the back of his neck once more stand on end. A presence…</p><p>Slowly slipping his phone back into his pocket, he carefully raised his head if only to confirm what he was feeling, to assuage the impending dread that gripped him. Thankfully, the painful heat held off this time, moments passing like hours as he looked over the edge of the moonlit horizon.</p>
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